SOIRÉE · WHY I PAINT THESE ROOMS
Every room is
a self-portrait.
Every room is
a self-portrait.
I trained as an automobile engineer, and the car never left. In Soirée it is always the first guest to arrive, parked in the middle of a room it has no business being in.
I trained as an automobile engineer, and the car never left. In Soirée it is always the first guest to arrive, parked in the middle of a room it has no business being in.
Around it I hang the pictures I grew up with: old masters, pop icons, the cartoons I watched after school. The iconography is borrowed, but the feeling is mine. These are the things I was taught to want, gathered in one room and a little too pleased with themselves.
Around it I hang the pictures I grew up with: old masters, pop icons, the cartoons I watched after school. The iconography is borrowed, but the feeling is mine. These are the things I was taught to want, gathered in one room and a little too pleased with themselves.
“A room tells you what someone loves long before they do.”
I · GALLERY VAN GOGH
A night sky,
brought indoors.
A night sky,
brought indoors.
I wanted to know what The Starry Night would feel like if you could park under it. So the sky became a ceiling, a chandelier hangs from the swirl, and a silver Gullwing waits on a chequerboard floor with its doors lifted like wings.
I wanted to know what The Starry Night would feel like if you could park under it. So the sky became a ceiling, a chandelier hangs from the swirl, and a silver Gullwing waits on a chequerboard floor with its doors lifted like wings.
Van Gogh’s own canvases glow in the arches: the sunflowers, the wheatfield, the self-portraits. He sold almost nothing while he lived. Here he has a gallery with his name on it. Reverence and mischief, in the same frame.
Van Gogh’s own canvases glow in the arches: the sunflowers, the wheatfield, the self-portraits. He sold almost nothing while he lived. Here he has a gallery with his name on it. Reverence and mischief, in the same frame.
Gallery Van Gogh
Gallery Van Gogh
Acrylic on canvas · 87 x 48 inches
Acrylic on canvas · 87 x 48 inches
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01
The chandelier
Crystal hung from a painted sky. The grandest thing in the room is lit by someone else’s stars.
Crystal hung from a painted sky. The grandest thing in the room is lit by someone else’s stars.
02
The open doors
Lifted like wings, with a dancing figure already climbing out. An arrival, or an escape.
Lifted like wings, with a dancing figure already climbing out. An arrival, or an escape.
03
The soup can
Pop art’s most famous still life, here a peacock’s supper. High and low on the same floor.
Pop art’s most famous still life, here a peacock’s supper. High and low on the same floor.
II · HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH
Paradise,
with the engine still warm.
Paradise,
with the engine still warm.
The title glows in neon on a stone pillar, and I mean it. Heaven, for me, was never clouds. It was a green coupé, champagne on ice and every picture I ever loved within arm’s reach.
The title glows in neon on a stone pillar, and I mean it. Heaven, for me, was never clouds. It was a green coupé, champagne on ice and every picture I ever loved within arm’s reach.
Dalí’s elephants walk through on their impossible legs and a clock tower melts in the heat. Marilyn and a soup can lean in gilded frames. It is surreal because desire is surreal. Nothing here belongs together, and nothing feels out of place.
Dalí’s elephants walk through on their impossible legs and a clock tower melts in the heat. Marilyn and a soup can lean in gilded frames. It is surreal because desire is surreal. Nothing here belongs together, and nothing feels out of place.
Heaven is a Place on Earth
Heaven is a Place on Earth
Acrylic on canvas · 87 x 48 inches
Acrylic on canvas · 87 x 48 inches
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01
The neon
The title, written the way a bar would write it. A promise in light, on old stone.
The title, written the way a bar would write it. A promise in light, on old stone.
02
The elephant
Borrowed from Dalí: enormous weight on almost no legs. That is how wanting feels to me.
Borrowed from Dalí: enormous weight on almost no legs. That is how wanting feels to me.
03
The retriever
Sunglasses, headphones, a good watch. The only one in the room who has already arrived.
Sunglasses, headphones, a good watch. The only one in the room who has already arrived.
IN THE ROOM
Painted to hold
a long wall.
Painted to hold
a long wall.
These are large canvases. They ask for the wall that decides how a room is remembered: above a sofa, along a dining room, at the end of a lobby.
These are large canvases. They ask for the wall that decides how a room is remembered: above a sofa, along a dining room, at the end of a lobby.
Gallery Van Gogh, in a living room
Gallery Van Gogh, in a living room
Heaven is a Place on Earth, in an entrance hall
Heaven is a Place on Earth, in an entrance hall
ALSO IN THE SERIES
Three more
evenings.
Three more
evenings.
Money Well Parked
Money Well Parked
Acrylic on canvas · 85 x 47 inches
Acrylic on canvas · 85 x 47 inches
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A blue Carrera under a disco ball, with Mona Lisa watching from the wall. The party has ended and the car stayed.
A blue Carrera under a disco ball, with Mona Lisa watching from the wall. The party has ended and the car stayed.
Holy Luxe
Holy Luxe
Acrylic on canvas · 86 x 48 inches
Acrylic on canvas · 86 x 48 inches
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A monogrammed limousine, a wall of Marilyns and a flamingo that will not move for anyone.
A monogrammed limousine, a wall of Marilyns and a flamingo that will not move for anyone.
Pagani, Prada & Pandemonium
Pagani, Prada & Pandemonium
Acrylic on canvas · 80 x 47 inches
Acrylic on canvas · 80 x 47 inches
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A hypercar, a panda on a velvet sofa and one very large pink bird, sharing a chequerboard floor.
A hypercar, a panda on a velvet sofa and one very large pink bird, sharing a chequerboard floor.
See Soirée on your wall.
See Soirée on your wall.
See Soirée on your wall.
Send a photograph or an elevation of the wall and the studio will place a work on it, to scale.
Send a photograph or an elevation of the wall and the studio will place a work on it, to scale.
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All series
All series
